Waiting for the Night
by Nova Harman-Redfern
Summary: Circle Midnight witch Kali is bored. Despite her power she wants more and more. Discovering a new Night World species she'd determined to become part of it. But how far is she willing to go? Even prepared enough to kill her own soulmate? (With a guest sta
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimers: NW and its concepts belong to LJS. My "guest star" belongs to Jyira Keller (jyira@yahoo.co.uk) and is being used with permission. The character of Kali is my character in the wolf clan rpg CAN NOT be used without my permission. Information on wolves gained from the rpg belongs to Lamia Wolf and can be found at http://www.thewolfclan.com. The BB Guns clique was run by Astraea Wolf. Information can be found at http://envy.nu/violentsinsations/   
  
Summary: Circle Midnight witch Kali is bored. Despite her power she wants more and more. Discovering a new Night World species she'd determined to become part of it. But how far is she willing to go? Even prepared enough to kill her own soulmate? (With a guest star.)  
  
Part 1  
  
The sky shimmered various shades of dark blue, decorated with a million tiny pinpricks of stars. Night was Kali's favourite time. The full moon was shining too, meaning later tonight she could finally complete her ritual. But she had to wait until midnight, and it was only 10:45.   
  
Kali sighed, sitting in her large leather office chair, admiring the view of the night out her window. She was the youngest witch to ever lead Circle Midnight, at only eighteen.   
  
She had power, fame, money, everything everyone could want. People feared her, and respected her. Admired her, loved her, hated her.   
  
Kali thrived on the emotions they gave her. The hate and fear. The joy of death rituals, which was what she was planning on tonight. The closet thing she had come with her efforts for finding another spell for immortality, without actually having to become a vampire.   
  
She wrinkled her nose slightly. Her ritual involved some pretty gruesome things, but Kali didn't care. It gave her that extra power for living longer than humans, and that was really all that mattered to her.  
  
But Kali didn't know she was about to get more than she'd bargained for.   
  
* * *  
  
The room was lit entirely by black candles, creating twisting, eerie shadows. Kali stood alone in the large room, empty except for herself, her cauldron and the candles.   
  
She looked down at the cauldron steaming and bubbling with all sorts of vile things that made up the spell. It was the closest thing she could find to make her live longer without ageing than avoiding becoming undead. She wrinkled her nose at the thought.  
  
She muttered a few strange words, her features glowing in the candle light. She threw in a handful of something glittery and purple and the liquid inside flared suddenly to a bright reddish-gold colour.   
  
She dipped a pewter chalice inside, filling the hot liquid to the brim. The stuff stank, and tasted vile, despite the pretty colour. But it was all worth it in the end if it gained her more power and got her that little bit closer to immortality.  
  
She gulped it down, throwing the cup aside, doubling over in agony. She moaned in pain, feeling like there was something inside her that wanted to get out. Within seconds, the pain had passed.   
  
She stood up, a smirk slowly forming across her face. This part was her favourite. She gestured sharply and one of her servants brought a figure in. The figure was a human slave, painfully thin, shaking her head pathetically in an attempt to beg for her life.  
  
Kali just laughed and raised her hands above her head. Green lighting began to crackle between them, sparking with pure power, growing with intensity before she hurled it at the human who screamed and flew against the far wall, and disappeared in a cloud of ash.   
  
Hmm. Interesting.   
  
Ritual complete and successful, she left the room, leaving everyone else to clean up for her.   
  
She grabbed her jacket and purse and headed out to her car. She spotted one of the other witches in her Circle, a rare male, Dex Harman also leaving. He grinned at her, and walked off into the darkness, hands in the pockets of his overcoat.   
  
But as Dex walked off Kali stood watching him for a while, unsure why. Then her attention was caught by another figure. A woman, somewhere from late teens to mid twenties, dressed in revealing leather was following Dex, silent as a shadow.  
Something about the way she moved caught Kali's eyes. There was a rippling and an aura about her that Kali had never seen before. The girl was clearly not human, but the question was, what was she?   
  
Intrigued, Kali found herself following.  
  
She watched as the girl walked over to Dex, whispering in his ear, her lips grazing his skin. Dex looked her up and down, noticing the tight leather, the curves, honey blond hair, smiling red lips. Kali felt a little disappointed. The girl was probably nothing but a hooker.   
  
She led Dex into an alley near by, Kali slipped through the darkness, just to make sure. But the sight that met her eyes was surprising.  
  
The girl was no longer a girl, but a large chocolate brown wolf, golden eyes glowing with strange intelligence. And she - it - was quiet happily eating the guy's guts. Meal over, the wolf stood on its hind legs and soon shifted back to the blonde in the black leather, such power and darkness surrounding her.   
  
The girl walked off into the night.  
  
Kali found herself staring after her in utter amazement. She had never seen any sort of shapeshifter with such power, such brutality.   
  
She was a little more than just an ordinary werewolf, that Kali knew for sure. And all she could think of, was how did she get to become like that?  
  
* * *  
  
  
Kali threw the sketch away in frustration. Damn it. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't seem to get it right. That girl had been in her thoughts ever since the night Kali had seen her slaughter Dex. It wasn't the actual girl herself that fascinated Kali, that type of thinking didn't interest her in the slightest, it was what the girl actually *was*.  
  
She had never seen a werewolf with such power before. As far as she knew, werewolves were supposed to be useless and stupid, but she had this girl watched and tailed. And from her spies information, she seemed to be learning that this girl was a little more than a werewolf.   
  
There was a knock on her office door. She sighed, irritated, looking up from her sketch. "What?" she snapped.   
  
The door opened and another witch in a flowing black dress, silvery hair falling down her back. She was carrying a manila folder.  
  
"Anything good?" Kali asked, stuffing the sketchpad into one of her draws.  
  
The witch smiled and handed the folder. "The girl's name is Aurelia Wolf. She's one of the council's favourite assassins."  
  
Kali took the folder, studying it. The girl had an impressive record. "What's a Wolf?" she asked.   
  
"Another species," the witch answered. "They're not part of Night World, they're their own clan. But this one only works for the Night World for the amount of money they pay her to do her job."  
  
Kali shook her head, fascinated. She flipped through it, studying the information on Wolves. She couldn't believe she didn't know about this species. All that mattered to her now, was how she got to be part of it.   
  
Nothing else mattered to her anymore. She was getting obsessive, and knew it, but didn't care. All that mattered was making yourself better and more powerful? Despite how dangerous it could be.  
  
* * *   
  
  
She knew she was being followed. Aurelia's lip curled in disgust. Fool. Did they think she wouldn't know? She wasn't getting the sense of a Daybreak assassin. Normally they had distinctive odours and auras about them.   
  
She headed down a dark alley way, checking to make sure no one was around before she turned, grabbing the girl who was foolish enough to sneak up on her and slamming her against the brick wall, arm pressed painfully across her throat.  
  
The girl was a witch, so choking her might be fun. She smiled rather unpleasantly. "Who want to tell me what the hell you think you're doing?" she asked politely.   
  
The girl stared at her, her eyes were red, almost demonic looking. She smiled faintly. "Following you?"  
  
Aurelia snorted in contempt. "That, I know. Why? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."  
  
"I was following you, Ms Wolf, because you fascinate me."  
  
Aurelia blinked a little. That was a surprise. Most people were normally terrified of her. Then something struck her. This woman had *known* she was a Wolf. "Who are you?" she asked, expression darkening.   
  
"I am Kali, leader of Circle Midnight."  
  
The Circle Midnight leader was a teenage witch? It sounded rather pathetic to her. She snorted in contempt a second time.   
  
"I've been watching you for quite a while," Kali went on. Aurelia was mildly annoyed that the girl didn't seem in the least bit afraid of her. Maybe she had more back bone than it looked like. "I've never seen any shapeshifter with more power."  
  
Aurelia's expression turned to one of suspicion. There had to be a reason this girl was doing a not very good job of trying to flatter her. She obviously wanted something.   
  
"I want to be what you are," Kali told her bluntly.   
  
Aurelia's grip relaxed and she stepped backwards, folding her arms. The girl wanted to be a Wolf. "Why should I change you?" she asked. "What's in it for me?"  
  
  
Kali smirked at her, dark lips curling. "Why don't you come with me and I'll show you."  
  
Aurelia frowned a little, still quite suspicious, but decided to go along anyway, just for the hell of it. She was led to an impressive black stretch limo. During the ride she kept her distance from this girl who had introduced herself as Kali. Didn't that mean "destruction"? She knew it was something along those lines.   
  
The mansion they pulled up was large and dark, very horror movieish. She smiled a little as she was lead down twisting corridors, seeming endlessly dark, filled with shadows and twisted paintings on the wall.   
  
She followed Kali into an expensively decorated office. It surprised her that someone who seemed rather young - no more than eighteen - could have so much power and money.   
  
She sat down in a leather chair without being invited, and waited.   
  
Kali pulled a briefcase from behind the desk after sitting down in her own chair and opened it, turning it around and pushing it in Aurelia's direction. Cash. Stacks of cold hard cash.   
  
"It'll be worth your while," she said with a smirk.   
  
Aurelia decided maybe this girl wasn't so bad after all. She knew how the bad guy side of things worked, at least. "I must be out my mind," she muttered. "All right."  
  
At least it was something to do.   
  
* * *  
  
The change from witch to Wolf was almost as bad as a vampire change, someone had forgotten to mention that. The idea of drinking blood did not thrill Kali in the slightest, but it was over now, and she loved her new form.  
  
She had never felt so powerful, she smirked at the dead body before her, after she'd quite happily ripped his guts out. She decided to leave the body where it was. Why waste time disposing of it?  
  
She stood on her hind legs and shifted back to human form, feeling Power thrumming over her skin. She sighed with contentment.   
  
"You're fast," an amused voice behind her said.  
  
Kali glanced over to see Aurelia leaning against the wall of the alley she had dragged her victim into. Kali shrugged slender shoulders. "What can I say? I'm a fast track kind of girl."  
  
Aurelia chucked dryly. "Sometimes drawing the victim's suffering out can be fun," she said with a curl of her dark lips.   
  
Kali smiled faintly. She did have a point. "There's one more thing we need to talk about," she said.  
  
Aurelia sighed, irritated. "Make it quick, because I haven't fed myself, and I'm not nice when I'm cranky."  
  
Kali snorted. "You're not nice full stop."  
  
Aurelia glared at her, but didn't answer, just stood their expectantly, waiting for Kali to get talking.   
  
"The assassin thing," Kali said. She and Aurelia had discussed this briefly during her change, she wanted more from life, excitement, something to *do*. So why not try assassination?   
  
Aurelia had mentioned some group of Wolf assassins she worked for, who sounded pretty cool, her kind of people.   
  
"You're gonna have to prove yourself first," Aurelia said. "The Boss Lady doesn't accept just anyone."  
  
Kali nodded. "What do I have to do?"  
  
She followed Aurelia out the alley and into the silent streets of Kali's hometown. Maybe she should consider moving to the city or something. Life there might be more interesting.   
"You gotta kill someone," Aurelia said rather bluntly.   
  
Kali looked around, but no one was on the streets to hear them. She snorted in contempt. "I kill people all the time."  
  
"Someone not human," Aurelia said with a smile. "Humans are too...easy. They don't provide much of a challenge."  
  
Now that was what Kali wanted to hear. Challenges would give her life meaning, something for her to focus her effort on.   
  
"Now from what I've learned about you, you still go to high school," Aurelia said, looking at her with an expression of distaste.  
  
Kali shrugged a little. "I guess," she said gloomily. "Hunting space for victims though. Plus, something to do when you're bored out your brains."  
  
"What are things like there?" Aurelia asked.   
  
Kali shrugged and told her. A typical human school, only twist being that the most popular people were all Night People.  
  
"Kill them," Aurelia said with a smile.   
  
Kali stared at her. "Kill the Night People. They're not Daybreak or anything."  
  
Aurelia shrugged. "So? Kill the Night People, and I'll consider talking to the Boss Lady." And she was gone, leaving Kali alone on a dark street.  
  
Kill the Night People? Shouldn't be too hard...right?  
  
* * *  
  
Kali scowled, not happy at the idea of forcing herself to mix and match with the human vermin in her class again. She had thought being sole leader of Circle Midnight, with no one telling her what to do would be enough to convince everyone she didn't need to bother with stupid human school, but for some reason, the other Council members seemed to think otherwise. Kali reckoned it was just a means to keeping her out the way.  
  
But she wasn't here to go to class, take notes, do her finals and graduate like everyone expected her to do. She was there to kill the Night People. If she wanted in on this elite group of assassins, the only way Aurelia would even consider talking to her boss, would be if she killed these people.  
  
She watched them from a distance, blending in with the crowd of hangers on and wannabes. Two girls, two guys. Two vamps, a witch, and a shifter.   
  
It wasn't killing them that was the actual problem, what was the problem, was how she would pull it off. Someone would notice if these people didn't show up.   
  
She wasn't the most popular person in school herself, what with her own brand of darkness, the others considered her weird and scary. Even the Night People who said she cramped their style, it didn't matter that she was Circle Midnight, or the leader, for that matter.  
  
Studying them. Kali's lip curled in contempt as she contemplated the idea that maybe they were Daybreak. It certainly seemed like it. She followed the crowd into hallway, discreetly watching as the two girls broke off and headed into the bathroom. She followed.  
  
She ducked into a stall, pulling her stake out her purse. She would have liked to shift and kill them, but even humans would notice if there was a Wolf wandering around the halls.  
  
Kali waited, her heart was beating surprisingly loud. She hadn't expected to feel like this. She killed all the time, so why should this be any different?  
  
Maybe because there was so much riding on whether or not she could do this. She *would* do it. Of course she would. She stepped out of the stall she'd been hiding in. Two blonde heads turned to glance at her, noses wrinkling in disapproval.  
  
"Why are you following us?" one of them asked, uncomfortably.  
  
Kali chuckled slightly, hiding her stake behind her back. "Why would you think that?" she asked.  
  
"You were in the crowd of hangers on this morning," the second one said. "Look, you're just not..." She trailed off at Kali's cold laughter.  
  
"I'm the leader of Circle Midnight, I could make your lives hell if I wanted," she said smugly. She didn't bother she was a little more than that right now. They didn't need to know.  
  
  
The first girl just gave her a cool look, facing her, arms folded, trying and failing to look tough. Tough didn't work for dopey blondes like these. "So why haven't you?" she asked.  
  
Kali laughed again. For some reason she was finding this whole scene very amusing. "Why waste my time?" she sneered at them. "I've found something to do that's so much more enticing than being popular."  
  
The popular girls exchanged glances. "Oh? And what's that?" The second girl sounded mildly interested.  
  
With movements too fast for them to see Kali yanked the stake out from behind her back, plunging it into one stupid heart then the other. Lucky thing wooden stakes killed witches as well as vampires. She smirked at the shocked expressions on their faces as she watched the witch fall first, followed by the vamp, shrivelling into a pile of old bones.  
  
She made a quick glamour spell to hide her appearance and walked out of the bathroom, leaving the bodies on the floor. As she headed down the hall she could hear screams as someone found the bodies. Kali smiled to herself. She did so enjoy behind herself sometimes. Two down, two to go, she thought smugly. Some challenge this is turning out to be.  
  
A part of her didn't like the fact that everything was so easy. She could see one or two humans glaring at her as she passed. They must be Daybreak. She just looked evenly back at them.  
  
"You'll get what's coming," one of them said. "One day."  
  
Kali sneered and ignored them, but she couldn't shake the shiver that was starting to run through her.   
  
* * *  



	2. Part 2

Kali sat alone in a local Black Iris that night, waiting. Her eyes ran over the crowds of Night People, but she couldn't see the two she was looking for. School for the day had been cancelled due to the unexpected murders of the popular girls. Her lips curled. Two bonuses for her.   
  
And of course, the boyfriends would be devastated. So why not jump in on the rebound and kill them? But they weren't here. She frowned a little, hating the thought of having to spend longer than she had to amongst vermin without killing them.  
  
She knew had had their eyes on her, but they didn't seem to want to approach her.   
  
"Seat taken?" a husky voice beside her said.   
  
Kali turned to the vampire boy beside her. Tut, tut, she thought dryly. He didn't seem the least bit upset over his girlfriend's death. In fact, if anything, he looked rather pleased, considering the way he was leering at her. "It's all yours," she said, giving him a stunning smile.   
  
He flirted with her non stop, buying all her drinks, commenting on how good she looked, his eyes couldn't seem to leave her chest. Kali was starting to tire of the routine, and she was getting hungry too.  
  
"Why don't we try somewhere a little less crowded?" she whispered into the boy's ear.  
  
"Yeah?" he slurred. "Where'd you have in mind?"  
  
Kali was excessively glad that vampires didn't have bad breath. She stood up, pulling him to his feet, through the crowd and to the alley out back.  
  
She glanced around to make sure there was no one who would come and stop her. No one seemed to be around. Good. Before she could protest the guy had pushed her up against the wall, hot, wet lips pressing themselves against her neck. She growled in anger. "No you don't," she hissed. *He* thought he could bite *her*? Not a chance in hell.  
  
After a brief struggle she managed to wrench herself free of his grasp, slamming his back against the alley wall, knocking his head back. She could feel her own fangs extend as she dug them into his flesh. The hot blood filled her with a wonderful tingling sensation as she drained him.   
  
She tossed the body to one side. A shriek filled the air. Annoyed, Kali turned around to see the shapeshifter guy she was after with another blonde girl. The blonde screamed, turned and ran.   
  
"Thanks a lot," the guy snapped. "You cost me my meal."  
  
He started advancing on her. From the look in his Kali knew he was getting ready to shift. She grinned savagely, but she managed to shift before he did, her wolf pouncing on top of him, tearing out his internal organs.  
  
She shifted back to her human form. Task completed.  
  
* * *  
  
"They're dead."  
  
Aurelia blinked in surprise, putting her keys down. She turned around to see Kali sitting in a chair in her living room. She frowned. "How the hell did you get in?"  
  
Kali smiled. "Through the door. It wasn't locked in any serious way."  
  
Aurelia opened her mouth, then shut it. She folded her arms across her chest. She really should get some stronger wards. But then again, what could keep out the leader of Circle Midnight. "So you killed them?"  
  
"All the popular Night People are dead. I got two in the bathroom and the other two just now at the Black Iris," Kali said, a smug smirk on her face.   
  
Aurelia felt her anger draining, replaced by amusement, and, she had to admit, she was rather impressed. "That was quick," she said.   
  
Kali just sat there, looking at her expectantly. Aurelia sighed heavily. "All right, all right. I'll talk to my boss and see what I can do."  
  
Kali nodded in satisfaction and left. Aurelia watched her go. Where did she find all these people? She thought dryly.  
  
* * *  
  
Kali studied the two tattoos on her arm, one signifying her BB Guns rank, the other a black poppy, her Wolf Clan symbol. She'd made it in. And had her first assignment. She studied the manila folder in her hand, the boy she was supposed to kill. Jacob Harrison, a human who knew about the Night World.   
  
She had wanted something a little more challenging, but probably another test just to see how good she really was. She'd passed the first one, so this shouldn't be too hard.  
  
"So I see you got in."  
  
Kali looked around, glaring at Aurelia lounging on the couch. "How did - "  
  
Aurelia just smirked at her. "You're not the only one who can break into people's apartments." She stood up, stretching.   
  
"Yeah," Kali answered. "I got in."  
  
"You should be pleased," Aurelia said heading towards the door. And with those words she was gone. Kali stared after her, bemused.   
  
Then she focused on her task.  
  
Jacob Harrison would be dead by the end of the week if she had her way, which she usually did.  
  
* * *  
  
  
Kali sighed heavily, watching the human boy as he headed down the hallways of his high school. She wasn't looking forward to forcing herself to be in a vermin environment again, but it didn't look as if she got much of a choice.   
  
Jacob was quite good looking for a human, with a sleek, muscular body, nice brown hair, shining blue eyes. Shame he was vermin, and knew something vermin wasn't supposed to know.  
  
She winced, catching sight of herself in a car wing mirror, Gone were her usual dark, twistingly designed Gothic clothing, replaced instead by jeans and a short royal purple top, her raven hair cascading to her shoulders. The only thing that had a hint of darkness hidden inside her were her glowing red eyes.  
  
She had decided that if she were going to infiltrate into a human based school, the best way to do it would be to pretend to be human.  
  
"Hey, you new?" The voice behind her caught her attention.   
  
Kali gritted her teeth and forced herself to smile as she turned around. And was surprised. Jacob was standing behind her, leaning against the car, giving her a brilliant smile. "Yeah, Kali Wolf," she said simply. Why bother lying about her name?   
  
"Joshua Harrison, or Josh to those who I like," he said.   
  
Kali was confused. "I thought your name was - "  
  
His laughter startled her. No guy had ever laughed at her before and lived. "You're confusing me with my wimpy little twin bother," he said with a snort.  
  
Kali blinked. Twins? She hadn't been prepared for that. "Oh. I didn't know that." She studied Josh. There was something about him that said...he wasn't human, she was sure of that.  
  
But if he wasn't human, then how could he have a human brother?  
  
~I'm a made vampire," he said inside her mine. ~ A Redfern in that case,~ he added proudly.   
  
Kali stared at him. This guy was starting to annoy her. Maybe she'd have to kill him on a side note. ~How did you know...~  
  
He just shrugged. ~You're a werewolf, right?~  
  
Kali was insulted. ~I am *not* a stupid werewolf!~ she hissed at him indignantly. ~Wolves and werewolves are totally different, for your information.~  
  
"Hey, my mistake," he said aloud, "I didn't realise."   
  
Kali eyed him. He must be a new vampire. Redferns never admitted their mistakes. Unless he was trying to hit on her, which he undoubtedly was. The bell rang. "I'm going now," she said cooly.   
  
And she left before he could say anything else. As she moved away she could feel his eyes on her. She tried to focus on the task at hand. She had a human who knew about the Night World to kill. She didn't need to spend time daydreaming over his twin.   
  
Daydreaming? It was a phrase Kali had never used before. What was happening to her? She didn't like Joshua Redfern. Didn't...  
  
Much.  
  
* * *  
  
Kali sighed heavily, sitting in a classroom mainly full of vermin. She wasn't really concentrating on English lesson, she was trying to figure out how to seduce Jacob and kill him. She doubted Josh would interfere with that, but he might interfere with other parts of her...  
  
Kali shook her head in disgust, what was the matter with her? She barely knew him. She glanced up, playing the black poppy ring on her finger. Anyone would know Night World flowers if they saw one.  
  
After glancing around again, she could see someone trying to get her attention. The girl was small, with a river of dark hair falling down her back. Her eyes were violet. A witch. She was showing Kali a drawing - a black dahlia. Pretty much a given, really.   
  
After class Kali followed the girl out. "You new?" the girl asked.   
  
"Yeah, Kali Wolf," Kali said for the second time that day. The girl didn't seem particularly threatening, so she wasn't Circle Midnight, which meant she was either Twilight - or worse, Kali thought, blah - Daybreak.  
  
"I'm Ari Harman." Her voice was soft because there were other kids around, and she clearly didn't want to be heard.   
  
"What Circle?" Kali asked. The girl may be Daybreak, but she wasn't stupid. Anyone from Circle Midnight would have recognised her name.   
  
Before Ari could answer, a guy had come up behind her and slipped strong arms around her waste. Sleek body, nice face, bright eyes.   
  
Ari turned in his arms. Kali remained where she was. This must be Jacob Harrison. And it looked like he had a girlfriend. Problem. But, Kali thought, problems could always be solved. She kept a polite smile on her face.   
  
Ari suddenly seemed to remember her. She broke off her kiss with Jacob and turned to Kali. "Jacob, this is Kali, she's new." Ari's smile turned dreamy. "This is Jacob."  
  
Kali just nodded. "Hi," was all she could manage. She wasn't used to conversation with vermin.   
  
The bell rang then, saving her. She asked where her next class was. She found it without too much trouble. On the way she ran into Josh again.   
  
"Oh, you," her voice was less than enthused.  
Josh grinned at her, with that annoyingly sexy grin. "You don't sound too pleased."  
  
Kali snorted, pushing her dark fringe out her eyes. "Should I be?"  
  
Josh chuckled. "My, we do have an attitude, don't we?"  
  
Kali slanted him a glance, her red eyes sparking. "Looks like I'm not the only one," she retorted. She tried not to look at him as he followed her into the classroom.  
  
She took a seat at the back, away from prying eyes and curious glances. She watched Josh take a seat next to a tall, stunning blond in a cheerleading uniform. The girl turned, giving Kali a deadly glare.  
  
Kali was surprised to see the girl's eyes changed colour like lights in a glacier, shifting from moment to moment. She was a Redfern. A cheerleading Redfern? She tried not to snicker. The Council reps would love that.   
  
The glare was a warning. Miss Ra-Ra-Redfern was warning her off Josh. Was she the Redfern that had changed him?   
  
The whole picture of that suddenly struck Kali as - well - completely ridiculous. The other Redferns must be having a field day with it. When class was over the girl fell into step here.  
  
"You're new here." It was a statement, not a question.  
  
Kali shrugged. "Yeah, so what?"  
  
The girl gave her a glance, her eyes flashing a dangerous yellow. "Then you don't know who I am."  
  
"Obviously not." Kali had to bite her lip from adding she didn't give a damn who the girl was.   
  
"I'm Damia Redfern, I'm in charge of the Night People here, and I'm telling you right now that Josh is taken. If you want to fit in here, find someone else to attach yourself to." And with that Damia headed off into the crowd, hips swaying.  
  
Kali stood where she was, arms folded. She decided instantly she didn't like Damia Redfern. But now, she thought, she might just have to try and take Josh, for the hell of it, more than anything else. Her own pet Redfern.  
  
* * *   
  
Damia Redfern was annoyed. She didn't like this new girl. Kali Wolf seemed to have made quite a splash amongst the Night People, and both Josh and Jacob seemed to be all over her. Josh in particular, probably cause the girl was a new species he hadn't tried before.   
  
She seemed more interested in Jacob than she did Josh, so why was Damia worried about her?  
  
Maybe cause Kali presented competition she wasn't used to. Something had to be done about her, that was pretty much a given. She kept her head high as she sauntered down the high school hall way, determined not to let anything show on her face.  
  
She met with her friends at their usual table at lunch. Lucky thing for them Kali wasn't with them. She was sitting at another table with the damned Daybreakers.   
  
"We have a problem," she said flatly.   
  
Amber Blackthorn shrugged. "What?" she asked, toying with a gold pendant that hung around her neck. "So there's a new kid, and she's a damned Daybreaker, so what?"  
  
Gia Harman laughed, her violet eyes flashing. "She is *not* Daybreak," she snorted, pushing her dark fringe out her eyes. "That's Kali Nightshade, the leader of Circle Midnight."  
  
"I thought her name was Kali Wolf," Damia said, frowning. She watched the girl whispering something into Jacob's ear, making him flush. Ari didn't seem too happy about it.  
  
"She wants Jacob, not Josh, so what's the problem?" Amber asked, folding her hands on the table.   
  
Damia didn't know how to explain it. Kali was dangerous, that was went without saying. There was something hidden under that "nice girl" exterior she portrayed. And if she was really the leader of Circle Midnight, or now a Wolf, that meant she was up to something.  
  
"She's been flirting with Josh, too," Damia said with a scowl. "It doesn't matter which one of them she wants, she has to *go*."  
  
Amber and Gia exchanged glances. "You're saying kill her?"  
  
Damia smiled for the first time that day. "Exactly."  
  
* * *  
  
Kali was trying not to focus on how low she appeared to be sinking. Forcing herself to be nice was one thing, but forcing herself to be nice to Daybreakers. The thought was making her shudder. And she still wasn't getting anywhere with Jacob.  
  
He was typically nice-guy Daybreaker, friendly to her, but made it clear he wasn't interested in her. She almost never saw him alone. Ari was the problem most of the time.  
  
And if that wasn't bad enough she still had Damia Ra-Ra Redfern breathing down her neck, glaring at her every time they passed in the halls.  
  
Kali scowled as she sat in her last class, watching the rain fall. Perfect weather. It matched her foul mood exactly. She just wanted the damn assignment over and done with.   
  
She sighed, wondering how she was going to come up with a seductive way to trap Jacob alone. From across the room she could see Josh grinning at her.  
  
She brightened a little, at least things seemed to be going well with him. Which was why Damia was probably so pissed off.   
  
She tore her eyes away from Josh, trying to force her mind into a clever plan to take out Jacob. The more she thought about it, the more an idea was slowly starting to form in her twisted mind.  
  
* * *  
  
Ari frowned a little, watching Kali Wolf saunter out the class room, hips swaying, dark hair curling at her shoulders like a cape. There was something about the girl that was wrong - wrong in a weird, disturbing way.  
  
She didn't like the way Kali seemed to be toying with not only Jakob, but Joshua as well. She didn't seem to care that both Jacob and Josh were actually taken. She just seemed to want something she couldn't have.  
  
"Earth to Ari!"  
  
Ari blinked, realising that someone was talking to her. She flushed, realising she hadn't noticed that class had ended. She stood up, gathering her things quickly. She tried to ignore the confused look of her best friend Liana Weald.  
  
"You were daydreaming," Liana said with a faint smile as they left the room.  
  
"I wasn't daydreaming," Ari protested. "I was musing." They stopped on the front steps of the school. Ari frowned, noticing Kali getting into Josh's car. Damia looked absolutely livid as she watched them drive off.  
  
"You don't like Kali?" Liana guessed. "It wouldn't have something to do with the fact that she's been hanging all over Jacob, would it?"  
  
Ari shrugged uncomfortably as they started walking to her car in the student parking lot. The rain had eased up, a faint drizzle hung in air, the type of rain that soaks you to the bone. "I don't trust her," she said, settling for bluntness. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed something scary about her."  
  
"Maybe the tattoos don't fit in with the 'nice' image she's trying to portray," Liana offered.  
  
Ari nodded. "When she's with us, it seems like the niceness is almost forced," she agreed. She's seen the tattoos on Kali's upper right arm, a single black star and a black poppy. Maybe it was that they were black.   
  
"So..." Liana said as they got into Ari's car.  
  
"So what do I want to do about it?" Ari said with a sigh, putting her seat belt on and starting the engine. She drove out the lot slowly, pulling into the main stream of traffic.   
  
"I'm guessing we do a little research party?" Liana suggested.  
  
Ari nodded. She knew she probably wouldn't like what she found out, but it was a start, at least.  
  
* * *   
  
Ari shook her head, refusing to believe it. Kali was the leader of Circle Midnight? Circle Midnight? And she was here, in high school, flirting with Jacob?  
  
"She must want him for some purpose," she complained unhappily. She and Liana sat in her living room, laptops open, trying to see whatever they could drag up on Kali Wolf. Unfortunately, information on Wolves was very scarce. They were apparently good at covering their tracks. They weren't a Night World species - they were something else.  
  
All they had been able to find on Kali, that she used to be the leader of Circle Midnight, then about four weeks ago had disappeared. No one knew where she was.   
  
"We've got to tell Jacob that Kali can't be trusted," Ari said firmly.   
  
Liana snorted, brushing her fringe out her eyes. "You think he'll believe you?"  
  
Ari sighed. It was most likely that Jacob would just think she was jealous. "I have to try," she said. And stood up to do just that. She couldn't let Kali do anything to Jacob.   
  
Why would Kali want to hurt Jacob? All he had done was be nice to her. Kali had Joshua fawning all over her as well, she could kill him, or use him for her black magic rituals. Josh would probably be thrilled at the thought. Although Damia wouldn't be.   
  
  
She had heard Damia and her friends complaining about Kali, they were Night People, maybe Ari should just let them take care of the problem.   
  
Her lip curled slightly at the thought. But she shook it away abruptly. Daybreakers didn't think like that. There must be something else she could do about Kali.   
  
She arrived at Jacob's house, not pleased to see a shiny black BMW motorcycle parked in the driveway by Jacob's red pick-up truck. As far as she knew Jacob or Josh or that matter didn't ride a motorbike.   
  
Oh great, she thought, banging on the door. Just let him be okay. Let him be okay.  
  
* * *  
  
Kali scowled in annoyance. She didn't know who was at the door, and stood up when Jacob went to answer it. She had been so close to killing him too. She should have just stabbed him the minute he'd opened the door, but she had wanted to get him somewhere more private so she could eat him. She was hungry.  
  
She moved out of the lounge to the front entrance hallway where she could see Jacob talking to Ari. Damn it. The little witch getting in the way and screwing everything up.  
  
"...leader of Circle Midnight, for God's sake," Ari was saying, not sounding happy at all. "You can't trust her."  
  
Jacob folded his arms across his chest, not looking too impressed. "Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" he said, sounding rather tired.   
  
Kali sighed heavily with impatience. Both Jacob and Ari turned to look at her. Ari scowled. Kali just smiled unpleasantly. She reached inside her jacket and pulled out an iron dagger strapped to the inside lining. Iron for witches.  
  
She sauntered casually over to Ari and plunged the knife into her heart. Ari was too shocked to even scream. Why wasn't Jacob actually doing anything? He just stood there, frozen.  
  
Kali turned her smile on him as Ari's dead body fell out the way. Jacob shook his head, as if gathering himself and getting back to reality. Kali snorted. Humans. So predictable.  
  
He lunged forward, trying to knock the knife out her hand. She blocked him easily, brining her heeled boot down on his ankle. He cried out. She wasn't prepared for him actually hitting her. She growled at him, struggling to get on top of him. They scrambled about on the floor trying to get possession of the knife. His bare hand somehow landed on top of Kali's.  
  
She wasn't prepared for a simple touch blowing her mind away.  
  
* * *  
  
It felt like all her circuits had been fried. Kali had never experienced anything like it before. The minute her hand had touched Jacob's everything was the same - yet everything had changed tremendously.   
  
She could feel a tremor taking over her body, waves of shock were running through her. She wasn't fighting him anymore, or even thinking about grabbing for the knife, or the dead body of Ari on the floor.  
  
All her senses were fixed on this thing going on between her and Jacob. What the hell *was* it? A shimmering sort of light was starting to bloom now, pulling her closer to Jacob. But it wasn't a physical sensation, it was more of a mental one.  
  
  
Jacob didn't seem as afraid of it as she did, she could feel his wonder, his awe, he was fascinated by this. They had sat up together, and Jacob was trying to hold on to her, pulling her into his arms.  
  
~It's okay~ he was thinking. ~It's weird, but it's not bad. It's sort of good-weird.~  
  
~You're crazy,~ Kali thought bluntly. She didn't *want* this thing. Deep in her mind she remembered people talking about it. She had mentioned it to Aurelia at one point, she had been whining about how hers was such a pain in this ass...  
  
~What *is* this~ Jacob asked.  
  
Kali hadn't been aware he'd been reading her thoughts. But then again, they were in each other's mind, that was what the white light was trying to do...merge their minds together.  
  
There was a word for this sensation. Kali had never imagined it would happen to her - or if it did it wouldn't be the idiot she was supposed to kill.  
  
"Soulmates," she whispered. Even as she thought it, she knew Jacob was sensing within her what it meant - one true love for everyone on earth. That person was supposed to totally understand you - but Jacob was  
  
"Vermin," she spat at him. The trance was broken. They were thrown back into the real world. The illusion of the brilliant white light was shattered.  
  
Jacob was looking as if she'd slapped him. Good. She'd struck a nerve. She snatched her knife up and struggled to her feet. She should kill him now. It was the only thing for her to do.  
  
But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She put it down to an experience beyond her. She'd recover in a day or two.   
  
"Kali?" Jacob was scrambling to his own feet as she stalked to the door. He reached out to catch her arm. This time the connection wasn't fireworks and lightening. It was like he'd given her an electric shock.  
  
She jerked away from him, telling herself to avoid any sort of skin-to-skin contact. That must be what set the whole damn thing up. "Get away from me," she snarled.  
  
"But we're soulmates." He said it so simply, as if that should make everything okay. Of course he knew about soulmates. He was vermin, a damned Daybreaker. Good as dead anyway, so she might as well kill him.   
  
"Why would you want to kill me?" he asked, head tilted, arms folded.   
  
Kali sneered at him. "Because it's my *job*," she snapped at him. "I'm letting you off this once, but next time, you won't get away so easily." And with that she turned and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.  
  
Just great, she thought moodily, getting on her bike and revving the engine. The sun had set, darkness was spreading slowly over the sky. Darkness would calm her down.   
  
What did she do? Soulmates didn't have to be all stupid and lovey-dovey all the time. She had a task to do, and she would complete it.  
  
She couldn't allow herself to fail. Jacob meant nothing to her. Nothing.   
  
Yet all her reassurances sounded strangely hollow.  
  
* * *  
  
Kali's nerves were a frazzled mess the next day. For the first time she was actually pleased to be in class. School was a handy distraction from real life.   
  
All she needed to do was get through the halls without seeing Jacob. So far she was doing okay, but everywhere she looked, Josh seemed to be grinning at her.   
  
During a brief period when she was going to her locker for books she found Josh waiting for her. "Have you been avoiding me?" he asked with his annoyingly cute grin.   
  
Kali glared at him. "So what if I have?"  
  
He chuckled, rich and deep. "Gee, me feelings are hurt." He lounged by her locker, deliberately trying to get in her way.  
  
"Get out my way," she snapped. Maybe she should kill him as well. He was really bugging her. But glancing around she could see the blonde head of Damia Redfern heading in their direction.  
  
"There's something else I'd rather do," Josh said. He was still grinning, which made Kali extremely suspicious. ~Vampires,~ she thought. ~What a waste of space.~  
  
Before Kali could do anything, Josh had grabbed her shoulders, pulled her close and kissed her. Kali started to pull away, ready to punch his lights out...then she changed her mind.  
  
The kiss wasn't the lighting and sparks she'd experienced with Jacob, but it still sent tingles down her spine, made her feel warm, and smug cause she knew Josh's supposed girlfriend was coming down the hall at that moment.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Damia's outraged voice shrieked.  
  
Kali pulled back slightly and grinned at her unpleasantly. Her red eyes flashed with triumph. Damia was flushed and angry. The other students coming down the hall were eyeing them as they passed, curious to see what would happen next. "What does it look like?" Kali answered.  
  
Josh moved Kali to one side, and slipped his other arm around Damia. "Don't be so bitchy," he said cheerfully. "Learn to share."  
  
"I don't share well," Damia snapped.  
  
Kali glanced at Josh, lightly probing the edges of his mind. But even that was enough. "That's not exactly what he's thinking," she said sourly.  
  
Damia glanced at her. "Huh?"  
  
Kali rolled her eyes. Damia really did seem to fit the dumb blonde category. She pushed the images she was getting into Damia's mind. Damia looked disgusted. "Men! Ugh."  
  
Josh looked innocent. "Oh come on, gimme a break!"  
  
"Where?" Kali snorted. Even if she did break his bones he'd heal up in a few days. That was what took the fun out of beating up vampires. Of course, she reflected, if you wanted to torture them you could make it last a long time.   
  
The bell rang and most of the kids scattered off to class. A few curious ones remained lurking at the edges, but glares from Kali and Damia sent them running.  
  
"I think we need to talk," Damia said, scowling at Kali.  
  
Kali returned the look with a scowl of her own. "What if I don't want to talk to you?" she snapped.  
  
Damia pushed Josh away, who was watching the show with a smirk. Shame he was such an asshole, really. "Go away Josh."  
  
"If you want to talk, talk."  
  
Damia sighed with irritation, grabbed Kali's arm and with surprising strength yanked her off into the nearest girl's bathroom. Her two groupies Gem and Amber were waiting.  
  
Maybe they had planned on ambushing Kali, but they hadn't been prepared for Josh being there.  
  
"Maybe somebody should teach you it's not nice to play with other girl's boyfriends," Damia hissed at her.  
  
Kali sighed heavily. She was tired of this now. "I never wanted Josh," she said. "I was hired to kill Jacob. He's a human who knows about things he shouldn't. Josh just happened to get in the way."  
  
"What got in the way, was an irritating little werewolf," Gem interrupted with a smirk.  
  
Kali hit her, hard, shattering her nose. Gem shrieked and moved backwards, stumbling, blood pouring from the injury. As a witch, Gem wouldn't recover so fast. "I am *not* a werewolf!" she hissed at them. "Wolves are totally different." Something orange was blooming between Gem's hands.  
  
Before she could hurl it at Kali, Kali had pulled out a knife concealed up her sleeve, and plunged it into Gem's chest. Gem fell down, moaning. The moans stopped.  
  
Amber and Damia were looking at her in shock. "The hell with this," Amber said. She grabbed her purse and ran.   
  
"Steel doesn't kill vampires," Damia said with a smirk.  
  
Kali smiled unpleasantly. "But wood does. You didn't think I'd come unprepared for vampires, did you?"  
  
Damia's expression had changed slightly. She looked wary - almost afraid. But apparently she was smarter than she looked. "Jacob has a girlfriend, a Harman witch, she's Daybreak, she's the one who broke cover."  
  
"I know," Kali said. "I killed her already."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Maybe if you don't want to end up like Gem over there, you keep your mouth shut and stay out my way from now on," she snapped. Damia didn't say anything. She simply stepped back as Kali walked out.  
  
Kali sighed with annoyance. This whole thing was starting to get tiring. She still had the problem with Jacob left to solve. She simple kill him no matter what solution, didn't seem so simple anymore.   
  
But she had to kill him. It was her job. She couldn't fail this.   
  
What was she going to do?  
  
* * *  
  
Jacob didn't really know how he was supposed to deal with the situation. All he knew was that Kali was his soulmate, his one and only. She had killed Ari in cold blood, she had just walked up to Ari and stabbed her.  
  
But she was his soulmate, and he knew that without his soulmate, now he knew who she was, he would never be truly whole. Kali didn't have to be so cold. He was positive there was a warm side to her.  
  
Maybe all she needed was someone to bring it out. If he would only get her away from that stupid arrogant brother of his. He had noticed that Damia wasn't too happy with Kali.   
  
If he could get her away from everyone, take her somewhere quiet, explain to her how he felt, she could start seeing things the same. Daybreak healing would do her good. It had helped him. He had found people who had helped him deal and understand.   
  
That was all Kali needed. She didn't need to kill people for a living. No one needed to do that. He could change her mind...  
  
The problem now, was finding her. Where would she be? He waiting impatiently for class to end. He wondered what her last class was. When the bell rang he grabbed his stuff and headed for her locker.   
  
He'd just wait for her there. He was confident. He could do this.  
  
* * *  
Kali sighed with impatience. Jacob was by her locker again. He'd been following her around like a lost puppy since the discovery of their soulmate connection. So they were soulmates. So what? He needed to get a life.   
  
Josh was so much more fun. Now there weren't anymore problems from the Damia front, she had him all to herself. She didn't really ant him, she just had him because it pissed off Damia.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked bluntly, shoving him out the way as she opened her locker.   
  
"We need to talk," he said. He sounded almost too calm. He had the air of someone who'd planned on what they were going to say. Kali rolled her eyes.   
  
"What it I don't want to talk to you?" She knew it was petty and childish but the sooner she could be rid of him, the better. Change of tactics then. "Fine," she snapped.  
  
He took her arm and led her out the school building. Kali could feel a burning heat on her back and glancing over her shoulder she could see Josh scowling at them. She gave him a look. She turned her back and followed Jacob.  
  
Where was he taking her? A thought crossed her mind, and she just followed him where he led her. They were moving into more quiet streets away from crowds of people.   
  
"This soulmate thing," Jacob began. ""It's really not as bad as you think it is. If you would just - "  
  
"Yes it is," Kali cut him off harshly. "You're *vermin*." She spat the word at him, and with that, pulled out her silver knife, plunging it into his heart. "Who wants to be soulmates with vermin?" she asked the now dead body.  
  
Strong arms wrapped around her waist, cool lips touched her neck. "A little harsh, don't you think?" Josh asked.  
  
"You followed us, didn't you," Kali said with a faint smile, wrapping her own arms over his.   
  
"Yeah, what else was I supposed to do?" Josh turned her around to face him. "You two were soulmates?"  
  
Kali nodded, making a face. But who said soulmates had to stay together? There wasn't a written law somewhere. Hell, even if there was, she probably wouldn't follow it. "I didn't like him. Besides, he knew about something he wasn't supposed to and he paid the price."  
  
Josh gave her a stunning smile. "So you're all mine now?"  
  
Kali opened her mouth to retort she didn't belong to anyone. Well, she didn't have to stay with him for long. "For now," she answers, sliding her arms up around his neck. "What about Damia?" she asked with a smirk.  
  
Josh shrugged. "She's history."  
  
"Good." She let him kiss her. It wasn't sparks and silvery white lightning, but it was a pleasant tingling sensation running down her nerves. "Let's go."   
  
She let him lead her away. Well, she was done with high school for the moment. She'd completed her assignment, the target was dead. She doubted she'd have much trouble convincing Josh to come with her.   
  
She couldn't stand anymore vermin environments. The sooner she got out of there, the better. It was true, she thought with a curve of her lips. Bad guys did have all the fun.   
  
THE END.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
